Artist Statement
I hold the lady by the neck, cut off the face but there’s no blood.
Then I start slicing the jaw.
I pluck both eyes and leave only hollow sockets.
I select and collect images from magazines.
I do collage. I build paper narratives. I photograph those narratives.
I have developed a new kind of collage. Paper on flesh.
If my work makes you laugh, I am happy.
If you feel uncomfortable, even better.
I’m interested in images that induce tension around mockery and uneasiness.
I grew up surrounded by magazines and inherited numerous collections of National Geographic, Architectural Digest and the likes of Vogue and other glossy and also popular publications. My first work experience was at a magazine publisher. This, of course, informs my practice. However, doing collage does not mean a refusal of the original creation. Pre-existing images speak to me and the newness of the work resides exactly in this dialogue. Stereotypical images exist only to make people feel inadequate. They are, however, surprisingly versatile. Give them an opportunity, and suddenly the old lady that walks with the help of a stick is carrying a machinegun, or the healthy athlete that jumps from a diving board is now taking his own life.
It may sound — and look like — digital abracadabra. But it’s not. It is a perverse insistence on the analogue, it’s fake-photoshop. Progressing from abstract, to narrative, to performative. If you ask me again next week, I might not be on the same magazine page anymore. I am not the artist I am describing here today. You are reading this tomorrow.
I insist on imagining a world I want to live in. I see art as a way to generate alternative narratives and expand people’s engagement in the struggle against inequality. I practice what I call poetic-journalism. I bring you the invisible news.
I hold the lady by the neck, cut off the face but there’s no blood.
Then I start slicing the jaw.
I pluck both eyes and leave only hollow sockets.
I select and collect images from magazines.
I do collage. I build paper narratives. I photograph those narratives.
I have developed a new kind of collage. Paper on flesh.
If my work makes you laugh, I am happy.
If you feel uncomfortable, even better.
I’m interested in images that induce tension around mockery and uneasiness.
I grew up surrounded by magazines and inherited numerous collections of National Geographic, Architectural Digest and the likes of Vogue and other glossy and also popular publications. My first work experience was at a magazine publisher. This, of course, informs my practice. However, doing collage does not mean a refusal of the original creation. Pre-existing images speak to me and the newness of the work resides exactly in this dialogue. Stereotypical images exist only to make people feel inadequate. They are, however, surprisingly versatile. Give them an opportunity, and suddenly the old lady that walks with the help of a stick is carrying a machinegun, or the healthy athlete that jumps from a diving board is now taking his own life.
It may sound — and look like — digital abracadabra. But it’s not. It is a perverse insistence on the analogue, it’s fake-photoshop. Progressing from abstract, to narrative, to performative. If you ask me again next week, I might not be on the same magazine page anymore. I am not the artist I am describing here today. You are reading this tomorrow.
I insist on imagining a world I want to live in. I see art as a way to generate alternative narratives and expand people’s engagement in the struggle against inequality. I practice what I call poetic-journalism. I bring you the invisible news.